CRM Marketing Leader — AI-Driven Journeys; SFMC

Position Overview

The Guitar Center Company isseekinga bold, technically fluent, and strategicSr.Manager

CRM Marketingto lead the next chapter of lifecycle marketing across Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend. This is a strategic leadership role at the center of a rapidly evolving CRM organization—where innovation, personalization, and intelligent automation drive the future of customer engagement.

Reporting to theSr. Director of CRM, this leader will oversee a large team responsible for designing and delivering customer-centric email and SMS marketing programs.

You’ll champion the shift from traditional batch messaging toscalable, real-time, data-driven journeyspowered bySalesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), while partnering closely with ourCRM Solutions ArchitectandCustomer Data teamto bring disruptive, AI-enabled experiences to life.

This is a rare opportunity for a marketing leader who thrives at the intersection ofcampaign execution, automation architecture, and creative solutioning—andwho’spassionate about building CRM thattruly speaksto the musician.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead email & SMS marketing strategy & daily operations of the CRM marketing team—ensuringtimelyexecution of promotional, lifecycle, and triggered communications across channels.

• Architect and implement next-generation CRM strategies that go beyond calendars—using behavior, data, and personalization to deliver timely, relevant messages at scale.

• Serve as the team’s SFMC expert, driving advanced use of Journey Builder, Automation Studio, AMPscript, dynamic content, and SQL-powered segmentation.

• Identify high-volume or repetitive campaigns with automation potential, and lead their evolution into efficient, scalable, always-on journeys.

• Champion the use of agentic AI and intelligent automation to generate, iterate, oroptimizecustomer journeys—pushing the boundaries of what CRM can achieve in a creative retail environment.

• Partner closely with the CRM Solutions Architect to align technical execution with marketing vision and campaign logic, ensuring platform performance and scalability.

• Collaborate deeply with the Customer Data team to activate segmentation, triggers, and real-time data signals that power smarter customer communications.

• Build and refine testing and experimentation frameworks to continually improve performance, personalization, and channel effectiveness.

• Monitor campaign and journey performance using SFMC dashboards, Adobe Analytics, and other measurement tools—translating data into action.

• Foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation across the CRM team, coaching team members on marketing best practices and emerging capabilities.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ yearsof experience in CRM, lifecycle marketing, or marketing automation, with2+ years leading cross-functional teams or departments.
• Expert-levelproficiencyinSalesforce Marketing Cloud, including:
  • Journey Builder, Automation Studio, Email Studio
  • AMPscript, dynamic content, SQL, and data extensions
• Demonstrated success designing and deployingautomated, behavior-triggered journeysat scale.
• Familiarity with agentic or generative AI tools, with a passion for applying them to real-world marketing use cases.
• Strong understanding of campaign architecture, personalization logic, and QA/testing workflows.
• Analytical thinker with experience using Adobe Analytics, Omni Analytics, or equivalent reporting tools to drive CRM insights.
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills; capable of aligning with technical, analytical, and creative stakeholders to deliver cohesive solutions.
• Bonus: A background or passion formusic, gear, or creative culture, whether as a musician, hobbyist, or fan.

Why Guitar Center? Here's just some of the rewards:

For our employees who are musicians we offer the unique opportunity of gig leave--take time off to share your music with the world and return to your job after your tour! Guitar Center offers robust benefits and perks, including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K plus company match, mental health support, paid sick/holiday/vacation time, employee discount program, and tuition reimbursement options.

Pay Rate:$130,000 - $150,000/yr depending on background…